Walk into any wine shop and the red wine section can feel like a wall of similar-looking bottles. Cabernet, Merlot, Shiraz, Malbec- the names blur together if you don't know what sets them apart. At Givino, we spend our days talking customers through exactly this. Red wine isn't one style dressed up in different labels.
It's a whole family of grapes and regions, each producing something genuinely different in the glass. Here's our rundown of the different types of red wine so you can find your perfect match.
What Makes Red Wine Unique?
What makes red a unique type of wine is skin contact. Red wine ferments with the grape skins left in, and that's where its colour and tannins come from, the compounds behind that slightly drying sensation on your tongue.
This is also why reds tend to age longer and pair better with rich food than whites do. More tannin usually means more structure and more ageing potential. Climate matters too. Warm regions ripen grapes into fuller, fruitier wines, while cooler ones produce leaner, more savoury reds with brighter acidity.
Types of Red Wine
Below are the most widely grown red wine grapes, along with what sets each one apart in style, flavour and food pairing.
1. Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon wine is the wine most people picture when they think of a big, bold red. It's full-bodied and high in tannin, with dark fruit flavours like blackcurrant and black cherry, and oak ageing often adds notes of tobacco or cedar.
It originated in Bordeaux but is now grown almost everywhere, from Napa Valley to Chile and South Africa. Its thick skins give it real ageing potential, making it one of the few reds genuinely worth putting away for a few years.
2. Merlot
Merlot wine is often seen as the friendlier alternative to Cabernet Sauvignon. It's medium to full-bodied with softer tannins, which makes it an easy entry point for anyone newer to red wine.
Also originating in Bordeaux, Merlot brings flavours of plum and black cherry, often with a touch of chocolate or vanilla. It forms the backbone of many Bordeaux blends, though it stands perfectly well on its own too.
3. Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir wine has a reputation for being notoriously fussy to grow, and that reputation is well earned, but the results can be well worth the effort.
It's lighter in colour than most reds, with low tannins and bright acidity, offering red fruit flavours such as cherry and raspberry alongside earthy or floral undertones. Burgundy is considered its spiritual home, though Oregon and New Zealand both produce excellent examples.
4. Syrah and Shiraz
Syrah and Shiraz wines are the same grape grown under two different names, depending on where it ends up. French Syrah tends to lean earthy and peppery, while Australian Shiraz is usually riper and more fruit-forward, with jammy blackberry notes taking centre stage. Both styles carry high tannins and a full body built to stand up to bold, flavourful food.
5. Malbec
Malbec wine originated in France, but it found true stardom in Argentina, where the high-altitude vineyards of Mendoza give it deep colour and velvety tannins. It offers rich flavours of blackberry and plum, often with a hint of cocoa or smoke running through.
It's full-bodied yet more approachable young than many other structured reds, which makes it a reliable choice when you want something impressive without a long wait.
6. Zinfandel
Known as Primitivo in Italy, Zinfandel is a grape with a long history and a wide range of styles to show for it. Zinfandel wine tends to have high alcohol and a touch of acidity, with dark fruit flavours such as blackberry and raspberry, sometimes accompanied by black pepper or a smoky edge. California is its best-known home, though northern Italy produces its own excellent versions under the Primitivo name.
7. Tempranillo
Tempranillo is Spain's signature red grape and the backbone of Rioja. It produces medium to full-bodied wines with firm tannins and decent acidity, and its flavours of strawberry and cherry deepen into leather and tobacco as it ages. Young Tempranillo wine is vibrant and ruby red, while aged versions take on a softer, more mellow garnet colour.
8. Sangiovese
Sangiovese is the grape behind Chianti and much of Italy's everyday red wine drinking. It's notoriously tricky to grow well, but when it comes together it produces medium-bodied wines with high acidity and firm tannins, carrying flavours of tart cherry and dried herbs with a savoury finish. Sangiovese wine is best enjoyed relatively young, although some examples reward a few years in the cellar.
9. Grenache
Grenache wine rarely gets top billing, but it deserves more attention than it usually receives. It's a medium-bodied red, lighter in colour than you might expect, with high alcohol and juicy red fruit flavours like strawberry and raspberry alongside a hint of cinnamon spice. It's grown widely across southern France and Spain, where it often forms the backbone of local blends.
10. Nebbiolo
Nebbiolo is the grape behind Barolo and Barbaresco, two of Italy's most respected wines, and it isn't a red for the faint-hearted. It's pale in colour but powerfully structured, with high tannins and high acidity, and its aromas of rose, tar and dried cherry need time to unfurl.
Grown almost exclusively in Piedmont's Langhe hills, it's the grape behind some of the finest Piedmont wines around, and it can taste austere when young, though it develops real complexity with patience.
Curious about other wines? Read our guides on types of white wine and types of rose wine.
Conclusion
Red wine covers far more ground than most people realise, from the bold structure of Cabernet Sauvignon to the delicate lightness of Pinot Noir.
Once you know what each grape brings to the different types of wine glasses, from body and tannin to the flavours and food it suits best, choosing a bottle stops feeling like guesswork. Next time you're browsing the shelves, try picking something outside your usual choice.
Have a look through our full red wine range at our wine shop and see which style speaks to you.
